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I narrowed my eyes on the flawless, golden woman. "I guess I owe you thanks."
Phoebe glanced up, her eyes trailing over all of us. There was something off about her smile, about the way she held herself, the sweetness of her voice. "I didn't save you from a place of selflessness. I've seen the prophecy on your back."
I stiffened, power blaring from my curse marks, but she went on in an airy, breathless tone, "I know you aim to kill my brother Cronus. The path you're both on now, you and he will be equal when you finally meet. But I can't see who will survive."
"If you just came here to give us creepy prophecies, you can fuck right off," Harvey snapped, stalking across the rug to stand at my side. I settled my hand on his back and sent a rush of comfort through our bond, wincing at the many-fanged panic biting through his soul.
"I came to give you another warning," Phoebe disagreed, frowning at the less than warm reception she was receiving. She rested her joined hands on her knee, her legs crossed under her yellow dress, the very picture of gentility. I didn’t buy it. She blinked big, glowing eyes at us and said, "And to tell you how to tip the scales in your favour. I've seen every timeline. Every failure—and each one is because of the prisons."
"The prisons," Harvey murmured, jolting at my side like a bolt of lightning had struck him. "Shit, I forgot about them. Renna and Tali told us about them while we were in Olympus—Cronus is keeping gods and their kids in them. There are four of them."
"Five," Phoebe corrected, fluttering a hand. "One is so secret no one else knows of it—it's where his most powerful victims are kept. As long as the prisons are full, you will lose."
"I'm not fighting him," I snarled, my stomach twisting up into a pretzel. "I'm done. I'm not going anywhere near Cronus, so it doesn't matter how many people he—eats. It won't affect us."
Phoebe gave me a pitying look that got my hackles up. Emlyn growled in sympathy, but the prophet, goddess, whatever was unaffected by his warning.
"Either you go to him, or he will come to you; there's no escaping a prophecy." Her smile turned sad, her eyes downcast, almost genuine. "I was the one who prophesied the words inked on your back, do you know? He pulled out my fingernails and branded me on the wounds until I could do nothing but scream for mercy. I'd determined to never give him what he wanted, but he always wins." When she lifted her head and smiled wider, I saw the true predator in her and I inhaled sharply, shuddery all over. "The prophecy didn't give him what he wanted though. Futures are like that. He wanted proof of his invincibility, but instead found his demise."
I reached for my mates’ souls, making sure we were all safe, and couldn’t escape the horror of how casually Phoebe spoke about someone ripping out her fingernails and branding the nail beds.
"I've had my fingernails ripped out so many times I've lost count," Wane's soft, raspy voice made me jump as he appeared in the doorway, with Verena pale-faced but glaring at his side. "That doesn't mean we're going to put Haley in danger. You heard what she said—we're not fighting Cronus. We're done."
"You can't outrun fate," Phoebe whispered, the temperature of the sitting room dropping dramatically. I shivered violently, the shudders finally ripping free when an unnatural golden haze spilled across the room, staining neutral furniture, warm brown walls, and every one of my family in butter-yellow light.
I shot Verena and Wane a hard look and they hurried across the room to us, showing a unified front of weapons and magic.
She laughed, the sound not remotely human, and added, "But you're welcome to try. You will die. All of you—and there will be no coming back this time."
Goosebumps rose all down my body, power hanging in the air like a veil, blurring everything, as Phoebe rose from her seat by the fire. My gut clenched. I needed to run but—my feet wouldn’t move. Oh god, I was trapped.
She cast a slow stare over all of us, no longer smiling. "I helped you once, Wynvail, and you ignored me. You almost lost everything."
Wyn clenched his jaw, his eyes straying to me.
"Don't make that mistake twice. There is no escaping Cronus; there is only defeating him. The prisons are his buffet. Empty them."
Her glowing gaze shifted to me, and tingles of screaming warning covered my body, her power triggering my flight instincts like crazy. I waited for pain, waited for her to seize control of my body, but neither happened. I knew she could crush the life out of me with zero effort. Why didn’t she?
Who was she? I really should have done more research into mythology when I had downtime.
"Your friend is in the worst prison. He'll devour her soon."
"Renna," I gasped, resuming the ability to speak when her stare moved to Emlyn. Cold premonition sluiced down my spine, or maybe that was a cold sweat.
Threatening or creepy or not, I didn’t think Phoebe was lying. It made sense. There was no doubt this goddess had her own agenda, but how did Renna play into it? How did we?
"Fuck," Kai breathed, trembling with restraint or rage beside me.
When Phoebe's attention drifted to Verena, Harvey and I moved swiftly, hiding her behind us while everyone else surrounded her in a protective swarm.
"Don't even look at her," Emlyn growled at Phoebe, his whole body swelled and bulging with muscle.
I blinked and shadows erupted around us, a protective wall slamming down between us and the threat.
"This is overkill," Verena muttered behind me.
"You were fathered by Apollo," Phoebe said to her, some of the otherworldliness leaving her, the gold haze fading from the air. "Apollo is my grandson. You have the same eyes."
